2021 Synopsis: Learning, Unlearning and Experimenting
Check the video synopsis here.
2021 was another turbulent year for our collective psyche. Re-openings and re-closings, variants, political turmoil, and supply chain issues are among the many factors that continue to reshape our modern world. Through it all, we have continued plugging away at SOUR to make sure we’re gathering together the best minds from diverse industries. Because it is only through collaboration and listening to other perspectives that we can begin to address the many new — and many old — problems we face as humans.
SOUR’s What’s Wrong With: Podcast has continued to be a valuable tool in helping to achieve this goal. With another 20 episodes under our belt in 2021, we’ve been fortunate to spend another year speaking with progress makers and thought leaders around the world — from engineers to physicians to entrepreneurs — who are working tirelessly to make our world a better place.
While doing so, we have enjoyed discovering connections between different aspects of our human experience. We are learning a lot…and are open to learning a lot more, because the learning process should never be finished. Learning comes from different sources. Sometimes it comes from observation of the non-human world. Sometimes it is hidden within our mistakes, and other times it winks at us from the past.
Learning From Nature
When it comes to design and our built environment, it is often too easy to overlook the fact that we are part of nature. Learning from nature, being more connected to it, and healing because of it are ideas we discussed with Sue Stuart Smith, a psychiatrist and author of The Well Gardened Mind (2021). In her book, she likens tending a garden to tending our minds, and we spoke about the connection between green spaces and mental health. It is vital we remind ourselves that we are natural, organic beings, and be aware that our hunter-gatherer brains have the tendency to be manipulated by clicks and instant gratification. By learning from nature, we can learn more about ourselves, and create design solutions that cut to the core of who we are as humans.
Learning From Trial and Error
Learning is a process of trial and error. It’s a tired phrase, but those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. This is true when it comes to the design of our cities, too. This was a theme threading through our discussion with Mark Niewenhuijsen, a research professor and Director of the Urban Planning, Environment and Health Initiative at ISGlobal in Barcelona. We must learn from past and present design mistakes, such as creating cities that are too centered around cars, which leads to more noise, less green space, and more emissions as people travel farther distances. Niewenhuijsen also warned of over-designing cities. Smart cities that rely on data collection to maximize efficiency can have the negative effect of deemphasizing our human needs. It is through a careful process of evaluating what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong that we can move towards a truly sustainable future.
Relearning From Old Traditions
We also often have a tendency to forget the past completely — at least the past before the Industrial Revolution. Traditional practices, customs and beliefs have a lot to teach us, though. Oftentimes these practices are holistic approaches to life that can imbue meaning in simple yet profound ways. Our conversation with Michaeleen Doucleff, global health correspondent for NPR’s Science Desk and author of Hunt, Gather, Parent, opened our eyes to the immense benefits relearning old traditions can have. Through research and trips to a Maya village in Mexico, an Inuit town in the Arctic, and a hunter-gatherer community in Tanzania, Doucleff came to understand that parenting has been a communal, fairly hands-off endeavor for tens of thousands of years. What she found in the communities she visited were healthy, happy, kind, self-sufficient children who seemed not to carry the hang-ups and anxieties of many kids in Western society.
If we can learn from nature, learn from our mistakes, and relearn forgotten traditions, perhaps we will be better suited to create a future where physical and mental diversity can thrive. We have certainly learned a lot this past year, and hope that our cross-pollinating discussions sparked ideas and collaborations, because by breaking down silos, we can build up a better world.
Looking forward to 2022, stay tuned!
